NRL Round 22 Footy Form: The stats that matter, what’s been backed and where the money is going
PUNTERS fancy Risky Stuart’s exciting Raiders to end the Sharks’ unbeaten streak in today’s heavyweight match-up at Southern Cross Group Stadium.
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Check out all the best stats, what’s been backed and where the money is going in order to find a winner.
Cronulla v Canberra, Saturday 5.30pm, Southern Cross Group Stadium
QUICK STARTERS
The Sharks have scored the opening try in 12 of their past 15 matches against the Raiders. In all but three of these 15 matches the opening try has been scored inside 10 minutes.
THIRD TIME’S THE CHARM
The Raiders have never won three straight matches at Shark Park and have only won consecutive matches there once previously (1983-84).
MILESTONE
Ricky Stuart has not won six consecutive matches as an NRL coach since the run in to the 2004 Grand Final. On all four previous occasions a Stuart-coached side has won five consecutive matches, they have gone on to at least the Preliminary Final (Roosters Premiers 2002, Grand Final 2003-04, Sharks Prelim Final 2008).
PERSONAL BEST
Ben Barba has scored nine tries in seven matches against the Raiders, easily his best tryscoring record against any opponent.
Betting summary: Punters are backing Canberra to cause an upset.
Melbourne v South Sydney, Saturday, 7.30pm, AAMI Park
BOGEY TEAM
The Rabbitohs’ record against Melbourne is their worst against any opponent, winning just four of 25 games (excluding one loss from one against Adelaide).
THE WRATH OF THE STORM
Melbourne have a perfect record against the Rabbitohs in Melbourne, winning 12 from 12, and scoring 394 points to 94 (33-8 on average).
TOUGH NUT TO CRACK
Melbourne have the best defence in the NRL, ranked first in points conceded (11.4 per game), tries conceded (1.9), linebreaks conceded (2.3) and least missed tackles (18.9).
FIRST HALF BLUES
The Rabbitohs have been outscored 76-6 in the first half of their past four matches.
Betting summary: Punters are all over Melbourne to continue their excellent form against the Rabbitohs.
Gold Coast v New Zealand, Sunday 2pm, Cbus Super Stadium
WARRIORS
Results between these two sides have been one-way traffic to the Warriors since 2011, with 10 wins from 11 meetings; the Titans’ worst record and easily the Warriors’ best record against any opponent during that period.
HOME SICK
The Titans have lost their past five straight against the Warriors at home — their worst losing streak against any opponent there. Should the Warriors win this match they will hold the third-longest winning streak at Cbus Stadium.
HIGH SCORING
When the Titans score 24 points or over this season they are undefeated, winning all nine. They have failed to win a game this season when scoring 22 points or less (nine losses and a draw).
POINTSCORING RECORD
Shaun Johnson is 14 points away from equalling Stacey Jones and 15 points away from taking top spot on the all-time pointscoring list for the Warriors.
Betting summary: Money running 10:1 in Gold Coast’s favour to end their terrible record against the Warriors.
Wests Tigers v North Queensland, Sunday 4pm, Leichhardt Oval
LEICHHARDT HOODOO
The Cowboys have a horrible record at Leichhardt Oval, winning just one of eight games at the venue — including their first-ever meeting with the Wests Tigers in 2000.
FAST STARTERS
The Tigers have scored a total of 130 points in the opening 20 minutes of matches this season, which is the most in the competition.
TRAVEL SICKNESS
The Cowboys have won just three of nine matches this away from home this season.
WHITE LINE FEVER
Antonio Winterstein has scored five tries in his past five matches against Wests Tigers.
Betting summary: Allthe early money has been in favour of the Cowboys.
Penrith v Sydney Roosters, Monday 7pm, Pepper Stadium
CHOOKS HAVE THE WOOD
The Roosters have won five of seven matches against Penrith since 2013, but lost to the Panthers at Allianz Stadium in round 7 this season.
MONDAY NIGHT CURSE
Penrith have won just two of their past six Monday Night matches, including consecutive losses in Penrith in their past two outings (24-10 to Melbourne in 2014 and 30-10 to the Cowboys last season).
HALFTIME TROUBLE
The Panthers have only led at halftime on five occasions this season, winning four of the five.
TRAVEL BLUES
The Roosters have won just one of nine away games this season, with four of those losses by four points or less. If they can’t win one of their remaining three away games it will be their worst season on the road since the winless 1966 season.
Betting summary: Punters can’t split these teams in early betting.
Originally published as NRL Round 22 Footy Form: The stats that matter, what’s been backed and where the money is going
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